King Lecross widened his eyes upon seeing that not the smallest energy remained in the arena.
“Wh-what was that technique just now…?”
He was wondering whether he should stop the match or not because Cadis’s slash had murderous intent, and that was when Raon’s swordsmanship suddenly changed.
A strange white aura appeared and erased all of the flows of the Starlight Sword Art in the arena.
He was aware that Zieghart had many peculiar techniques, but it was completely unexpected that such a martial art even existed.
“He didn’t defeat it through sheer power—he completely erased the astral energy itself. It almost looked like ocean water erasing doodles on the beach.”
Chamber leaned forward while floating in the air. Her eyes were also widened in surprise.
“Has he been hiding such a secret technique all along?”
“That’s not the case.”
Ogram shook his head while watching Raon.
“It’s a new martial art he just completed right here and right now after watching the Starlight Sword Art.”
He swallowed harshly and narrowed his eyes.
“I knew he was an amazing boy, but he even has the qualities of a founder…”
An excellent talent for martial arts and a talent for creating a martial art were completely different.
If one out of ten thousand people had the former talent, one out of a hundred thousand had the latter. That was how special it was.
“Aah, this is great. So great.”
Chamber was blushing. Her eyes were a shining blue, just like a cat that had found its prey, as she licked her lips.
“He’s literally a beautiful diamond in the rough. I’d like to polish him.”
“I agree with you for once.”
Ogram gave her a big nod.
“I’m curious about what would happen if I taught him the alliance’s martial art.”
His eyes were brimming with interest as he watched Raon.
“Hey, geezer. How did you even raise him?”
Ogram exhaled briefly and turned his head towards Glenn.
“Just how… G-geezer?”
It was difficult to describe the look on Glenn’s face. He looked extremely happy, but seemed to be trying to suppress it to the best of his ability.
Fake smiles usually resulted in a smiling mouth with immobile eyes, but it was the exact opposite in Glenn’s case.
His eyes were curved into a crescent shape, but his mouth was forcefully curved downward. That was why his face looked so strange as a result.
‘Huh? Is he even breathing right now?’
His face was gradually becoming pale. He must’ve forgotten to breathe.
“Geezer! Come back to your senses!”
“Huff…”
Glenn finally started blinking and exhaled after Ogram stood up and waved at him.
“What are you even doing right now…?”
“Ahem, nothing happened.”
Glenn cleared his throat and quickly shook his hand. His face returned to his usual empty expression in the blink of an eye.
“With what happened just now, is Raon going to win after all?”
Chamber grinned at Derus.
“No.”
Derus simply shook his head.
“Cadis hasn’t given up yet.”
He turned his eyes to look at Glenn and the other leaders of the Six Kings and smiled faintly.
“A duel like this is extremely helpful for the children’s growth. I think it’s better to leave them, even if it gets a bit violent.”
“Of course we should!”
“I’m having fun! Fine by me!”
Ogram nodded as if it wasn’t even a question, and Chamber also raised her finger to draw a circle.
“Haa, alright.”
King Lecross seemed a bit worried, but briefly sighed since it couldn’t be helped.
“Yes, you can’t stop them.”
Glenn slowly nodded. The trembling in his lips had stopped, and a confident smile had replaced it.
“Because his technique is still incomplete.”
* * *
Raon clenched his left fist.
‘It’s gone.’
Cadis’s astral energy, which had seemed like it could cover the entire world, was erased like bubbles in the water.
Not even the smallest trace of mana remained, as if it didn’t exist to begin with.
‘So that line was…’
The single line that managed to erase the countless trajectories filling his head wasn’t an ordinary path.
It was a swordsmanship with the power of void, capable of erasing an opponent’s aura, principles, flow, and even breathing. It could erase everything from the opponent in an instant.
‘How did such a technique even come to be…?’
He just wanted to mix the Fangs of Insanity’s ability to create an opening and the Blizzard Sword Art’s ability to cut off a martial art’s flow, yet the result was way too advanced—far exceeding his expectations.
He couldn’t even laugh because of how ridiculous it was.
‘The most important part is the fact that it’s not even complete yet.’
He had to stop midway because the strength left his body, but erasing his opponent’s attack wasn’t the finishing line of the White Shadow Slash.
It was a counterattack.
Just like the special technique of the Azure Clouds Flow of Stars and the Starlight Sword Art, the true nature of the White Shadow Slash was to perform a counterattack after erasing all of the opponent’s power.
‘But it has a huge rebound.’
His brain felt like it was burning the moment he used the White Shadow Slash, and he was still feeling dizzy to the point that he felt like he could faint at any moment if he didn’t focus.
The aura consumption was also unprecedented, and it was definitely not a technique he could use casually.
‘Even so… I need to do it one more time.’
He couldn’t even begin to guess how long it would take him to complete the White Shadow Slash if he didn’t do it while his focus and senses were at their peaks.
It was extremely painful, the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation was completely exhausted, and Glacier wasn’t in a good condition either… but it was still necessary to draw out the true form of the White Shadow Slash in his current state.
‘I also need to take revenge.’
He looked at his shoulder. The sword had deeply lacerated his flesh. Even a 0.01 second of delay would’ve been enough to remove his arm. Since he couldn’t let it end after all Cadis did to him, he was definitely going to pay it back.
“Haa…”
Raon suppressed his nausea and raised his head. Cadis’s hand was trembling in panic, and Raon tilted his head while looking at him.
“You should forfeit. Your sword isn’t going to work against me.”
It was his turn to lay a trap.
* * *
Cadis scratched his temple violently with his nails.
‘What’s going on? What happened just now…?’
He was planning to cut off Raon’s arm by using the Starlight Sword Art’s special technique, Azure Light’s Overflow, the moment Raon performed his technique with a powerful heat.
‘No, I definitely reached him.’
Blood was still gushing from Raon’s shoulder. It was proof that his sword had reached him.
‘And yet…Why did everything disappear?’
His astral energy was filling the entire arena and undulating like an ocean, and it completely disappeared alongside the principles of slow sword inside it and the breathing that caused those principles.
‘It was the Starlight Sword Art! It wasn’t the Azure Clouds Flow of Stars but the Starlight Sword Art that I learned from my father!’
Unlike the Azure Clouds Flow of Stars that was well known to the public, the Starlight Sword Art still remained a secret. It was an extremely high level swordsmanship that couldn’t possibly disappear so easily.
Gulp.
Cadis swallowed nervously and looked at Raon. His sword was completely empty without the slightest trace of any energy.
“What have you done this time?”
“I removed it.”
Raon’s casual voice sounded like he was stating the obvious.
“I simply removed it.”
His eyes were also clear and straight. Even the sarcasm behind his pretense of respect had disappeared. He looked like he was done playing around.
“You should forfeit. You have lost, Cadis Robert.”
Raon shook his hand as if the match were already over.
“Bullshit!”
Cadis violently ground his teeth.
“There’s no way someone like you can defeat the Starlight Sword Art!”
He screamed and unleashed all of the aura that he’d been hiding to challenge the higher ranks of the Twelve Stars of the Continent.
Whaam!
The entire arena trembled from Cadis’s tremendous power, and the shattered pieces floated in the air.
‘I must not lose here!’
It would’ve been a different story if he only used the Azure Clouds Flow of Stars during the match, but losing after using the Starlight Sword Art would bring humiliation to the house. He had to risk his life if it meant he could win.
“Kuh!”
Cadis shouted in anger and unleashed the Starlight Sword Art. The blue starlight started to waver alongside the sword’s trajectory.
‘Is he not planning to move?’
Instead of dodging or blocking like before, Raon remained immobile. He was simply standing at the center of the arena with his eyes closed. His composure made Cadis even angrier.
‘I need to keep my temper.’
Raon was clearly trying to make him yield to his wrath. It was necessary to destroy his technique while holding tightly on to his cold head.
‘I’ll make you unable to use your right arm for the rest of your life.’
He decided to cut his tendons and mana circuits completely so that even healers and priests wouldn’t be able to completely heal him. He unleashed the Starlight Sword Art to the best of his abilities.
Swaa!
The combination between the highest degree of the Starlight Sword Art and the Shattering Cloud’s Stride turned the small light reflected on the blade into a blue ocean of starlight in no time, covering the entire arena.
Whir!
That state was called the Azure Silver, and it signaled that the preparations for the Starlight Sword Art’s special technique were done.
[Cadis.]
When he was about to create the flow of a special technique by raising his sword, Derus’s will was transmitted to him.
[Use the Brilliance of a Thousand Stars.]
‘The Brilliance of a Thousand Stars?’
The Brilliance of a Thousand Stars was the finishing move of the Starlight Sword Art. It wasn’t excessive to say that the entirety of the Starlight Sword Art dwelled in that special technique.
[It’s fine even if the technique gets revealed. Instead, you should make sure to cut him off. Make sure that he won’t be able to reach even higher.]
He was telling him to cut his arm off in a way he wouldn’t be able to recover from. He was glad that his father was thinking the same thing.
Cadis nodded slightly to show his acknowledgment and tightened his grip on his sword.
Rumble!
He swirled his sword before pointing it at Raon. Majestic starlight spread above the blade and the Azure Silver overflowed from the arena and expanded, large enough to reach the spectators’ seats.
“I’ll finish you off!”
Cadis took a step forward, and when he was about to unleash the Starlight Sword Art’s special technique, Raon made his move. He looked like he was panicking because he didn’t expect such a huge amount of energy.
Cring!
Flower petals made of ice bloomed one after the other on top of his blade. The frozen shards, clad in astral energy, started to spread towards the ocean of starlight.
‘What an excellent technique. I must thank you for it.’
The Starlight Sword Art’s true nature resided in its counterattack. It was the perfect situation to cut off his arm at the shoulder, as the return became even more powerful the stronger the opponent’s strike was.
Rumble!
Cadis waited until Raon’s ice flowers began to cover the entire arena before he swung his sword. The ocean of starlight covering the arena started to move alongside the blade’s trajectory.
Swaa!
The astral energy’s ocean of light devoured the ice flower’s storm in an instant and expanded even larger.
‘Do it now!’
Cadis slashed in a cross. The ocean of stars, glimmering like a galaxy, spread in all directions to dominate the entire arena. It was the Starlight Sword Art’s special technique Azure Light’s Overflow, which he had used a moment ago.
Whir!
The tremendous power of the Azure Light’s Overflow moved according to the blade and fell upon Raon’s shoulder.
Pssh!
Right before the blade reached Raon’s shoulder, a white shadow appeared on his blade even though it should’ve been impossible.
‘This is the one.’
That strange energy must’ve been the martial art that removed the Azure Light’s Overflow during the previous clash.
‘It won’t work a second time!’
Cadis stomped the ground and twisted the sword’s trajectory. The smooth flow of the sword briskly bent to create a majestic light.
Whir!
The ocean of stars filling the surrounding area concentrated on the blade to create a tremendous wave. It was the ultimate technique of the Starlight Sword Art, the Brilliance of a Thousand Stars.
‘You won’t be able to stop this.’
It wasn’t a simple astral energy anymore, as it grew even stronger from devouring the space itself. No matter how amazing Raon’s technique was, it was simply too powerful to be removed.
Rumble!
A tremendous power that a human being couldn’t possibly withstand was about to completely annihilate Raon’s shoulder, and that was when he thrust his sword, carrying a white shadow.
‘It’s pointle—Ah!’
It wasn’t fast, nor slow, nor light, nor heavy. The sword was approaching him as if it were a simple phenomenon.
Whap!
The moment he faced that strange sword, the Brilliance of a Thousand Stars came to a halt despite the concentration of all the energy dwelling in it.
The ocean of starlight was torn apart, the astral energy melted down, and the sword’s principles were erased.
Nothing could survive the white shadow of the void.
It looked so surreal, and it almost felt like a dream.
Pssh!
With a violent cutting sound, blood started gushing from his right shoulder.
He turned his head, and his arm was already on the ground and red blood was gushing from his shoulder like a fountain.
“Ah…”
He returned to reality from the dream. Extreme pain was welling up from his severed arm.
“Arrrrrrgh!”
Cadis screamed while grasping his shoulder. The time that had once come to a halt started to flow once again alongside his shout.
* * *
* * *
“Haa…”
Raon exhaled. He sounded like he was about to die.
‘I’ve completed it. I’ve completed the true White Shadow Slash.’
He understood the truth behind the technique from using the White Shadow Slash a second time.
The White Shadow Slash didn’t simply consist of erasing the opponent’s technique, but also performed an unavoidable attack to the area that the opponent was targeting. The martial art’s true nature was the counterattack.
‘That’s why…’
He raised his head to look in front of him.
“Uwaaah!”
Cadis was screaming like a monster while holding his bloody shoulder tightly.
‘His arm got cut off.’
It was because Cadis was targeting his right arm that the White Shadow Slash counterattacked by cutting off his right arm. The technique really hated to lose, since it returned the exact thing Cadis was trying to do.
‘It serves you right.’
Honestly speaking, Raon was capable of stopping it midway. However, he purposefully didn’t do it. Eye for an eye, blood for blood. Cutting off his arm was completely intentional.
‘Moreover…’
He even focused his coldness on causing devastating damage to his tendons and mana circuits. Cadis’s right arm wouldn’t function like before even if he managed to reattach it.
‘You brought it upon yourself.’
Since Cadis was also trying to leave him disabled instead of simply cutting off his arm, Raon didn’t feel the slightest pity for him.
‘I guess it’s time to act now.’
Raon exhaled roughly and fell to his knees. He went towards Cadis and grabbed his shoulder.
“S-Sir Cadis!”
He made his eyes waver and his chin tremble.
“I’m sorry! I couldn’t control my strength during the counterattack because I was too exhausted!”
He bit his lip while putting it in a way that suggested that he didn’t do it on purpose—that he only did it because Cadis was the first one to show his murderous intent.
“Ugh…”
Because of the mental shock and physical pain of his severed arm, Cadis had a seizure and fainted, his eyes rolling back.
“H-healer!”
“Ah!”
“Move!”
Raon called for the healer, and the healers who were staring blankly at them ran into the arena.
“W-we need to quickly treat hi—Kuah!”
Raon passed Cadis to the healers and coughed up blood. It mixed into the blood that fell from Cadis’s arm and the floor turned completely red.
“S-Sir Raon also needs to go with us! You have severe internal injuries!”
One of the healers tried to grab his shoulder.
“No, p-please take Sir Cadis first. It’s an emergency.”
Raon turned his face pale by using the small amount of aura remaining in him and gave him Cadis’s severed arm.
“Please reattach it no matter what!”
“But Sir Raon isn’t looking good either…”
“Please!”
“U-understood!”
Raon bowed at him, and the healer nodded while biting his lip before standing up.
‘He looks impressed.’
The healer looked deeply impressed by the way Raon was worrying about Cadis even though he was also severely injured.
“Ooooh!”
“He’s worrying about his opponent despite his state…”
“He is the true warrior! He has a knight’s spirit!”
“Raon Zieghart! You are so cool!”
“I’m so impressed!”
The spectators were surprised when the arm got cut off, but they grew deeply impressed by Raon’s sacrifice and started to cheer for him instead.
Huh, you really are a demon.
Wrath’s entire body was shivering violently, like cotton candy fluttering in the wind.
How can you call yourself a human when you spout such lies?
He bit his lip tightly while watching the spectators who were waving their hands.
‘It’s because I can’t leave yet.’
Raon grabbed his lacerated shoulder. He used the pain to come back to his senses and raised his head to look at the platform.
Ogram and King Lecross were giving him a loud round of applause while nodding their heads, and Chamber was licking her lips while staring at him with some kind of desire in her eyes.
And Glenn…
‘What does that face even mean?’
He wasn’t sure if it was alright to describe him in such a manner, but he looked like a puppy that was being trained and was ordered to ‘wait’ with food right in front of it. He looked like he was trying his best to suppress something.
‘Is he unwell?’
Raon figured that might be the case and looked at the last person. The others were just an appetizer before looking at him.
Derus Robert. His smile was completely gone from his face, and he was as expressionless as a doll for the first time.
He wasn’t worried about his son. His mask was cracked because he was so angry that his plan went awry.
It didn’t look like a big deal, but Raon could tell. Derus was gritting his teeth in order to suppress his boiling anger.
‘This is what I wanted. I wanted to see that face from him all along.’
His heart pounded violently. It was so loud that he was getting worried that other people might hear it.
He was getting excited.
Derus’s angry face was the biggest reward for him, even better than the reputation, elixir, or weaponry that he would get during the award ceremony.
‘It’s too early to be surprised.’
Raon clenched his back teeth and narrowed his eyes.
‘Because I’m only getting started. I’ll take away everything you possess.’
